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Although Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is more popular on the PlayStation, the Dreamcast version actually boasted far better graphics, and was more refined in a lot of other areas, like pop-in reduction and framerate. Whilst one of the better selling games for the doomed console, it still never really found the audience that Sega hoped it would. Regardless, it's one of the very first skateboarding games, and set a precedent that would follow through with countless sequels, now totalling over half a dozen games.

The premise is very simple - you have to skate around a number of maps, performing as many tricks as possible, to rack up as high a score as possible. The factors contributing towards your score include how well you land the trick, the amount of "air" you get, and if you "chain" a trick into another one, you will also get a huge bonus. Moreover, these tricks, if successful, all contribute to a Special meter, which allows you to perform a huge, both in scale and points awarded, move, although any fumbles in the mean time will reset this bar to zero.

The career mode is by far the most fun component of the game, where numerous diverse challenges are set, getting progressively harder through each level. Your main goal is to collect at least 2/3 of all of the tapes in each level, which are hidden around, and present challenges, such as gaining a set number of trick points in 2 minutes, or collecting all the letters of the word SKATE that are hidden around the map. You will unlock each map as you beat it, also.

My favourite part of the game, though, is the excellent multiplayer mode, where you can compete to get the highest score, or also play a game called "Horse", where the person with the lowest score each time gains a letter of the word, and whoever ends up with the word "Horse" has lost, and of course, has been humiliatingly labelled a horse.

With a superb soundtrack of rock music, great visuals, and highly addictive gameplay, this is the most comprehensive skateboarding game of its time - fun both on your own and with friends, and also with plenty of depth, this is an extremely entertaining outing.

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This is one of the best sports games on the dreamcast. There are several forms of play: Career mode: Race around the levels doing tasks to earn videotapes. The more videotapes you get the more levels you get. 2 player: Graffiti: Do tricks on or off of objects and that object will be turned your colour. For the other player to turn it their colour they must beat your score on that object Trick Attack: The person at the end of the two minutes with the most point’s wins. Horse: you have 10 seconds to pull off one trick and make sure you get as much points for that trick as possible. Whichever player gets the lowest score gets a letter. Until it spells horse. You can also change the word horse to what ever else you fancy. Single session: Skate round and get the highest possible score in two minutes. Free skate: Skate around form as long as you want on any level that you want. There are ten pro skaters to be used and a further two to be unlocked: Tony Hawks. Bob Burnquist. Geoff Rowley. Bucky Lasek. Chad Muska. Kareem Campbell. Andrew Reynolds. rune Glifburg. Jamie Thomas. elissa Steamer. Officer Dick(to be unlocked). Private Career(to be unlocked). There are many levels to be skated on: Warehouse, Woodland hills. Mall, New York.. Skate Park, Chicago. Downtown, Minneapolis. Down Hill Jam, phoenix. Burnside, Portland. Streets, San Francisco. Roswell, New Mexico. The main idea of the game is to earn yourself videotapes, for doing tasks such as getting 40,000 points or knocking over five boxes. There are three competitions during the course of the game. In the competitions you just have to come first by getting the highest score possible. When you have three gold medals with one character. You get some footage of that character skating in real life. The more videos you get the more boards you get to choose from. At the beginning of the game you have the choice of two boards. As you go through the game and get more videos more boards become unlocked. Your trucks (the things that hold the wheels to the board) can be loose medium or tight. The looser the trucks are the more control you have. There are also a variety of coloured wheels to choose from The graphics on this game have been slightly improved since the play station version. It runs very smooth and does look the piece. This game has an awesome sound track from the likes of gold finger and primus. The freedom of this game is unbelievable. You can go in whatever direction you want when you want. The level design is great. Everything in the level is interactive. The levels are also really vast. There are loads of cool objects to do tricks on. This game really is great. Now because it’s on the dreamcast and its old it will cost round about £10.A very good investment if you ask me! This game is great fun and that it will take you ages to complete.

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is one of the greatest revelations in gaming today, it kicked started a new wave of top quality gaming in the form of extreme sports titles. Tony Hawk, one of the best skateboarders in the world, definitely the most influential, has made his fame through this game, and the game has inspired many to take up the sport, and I believe this game is one of the best around. Graphically impressive, the game was originally on the PlayStation, so essentially this is just a clone of that game, but it allows those with a Dreamcast to play the game, so that cannot be bad. Plus, the graphics are a lot better than the shaky PlayStation Graphics, so this is definitely the better version. The game excels on gameplay more than anything, with the emphasis being on getting points for showing off really - the better the tricks and moves you do, the more points you will get - you'll find the gameplay rewarding and great fun, even when you're a beginner. There's something very addictive about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - you will not be disappointed. Grind all over rails, table tops, anywhere in the greatly designed areas, do some spectacular manoevers in the air, pulling off a huge combo of tricks to much reward or a certain splat, which is funny! THPS is a very, very entertaining game, one player and two player modes - it's a class title. The two player battles are just as good as the single player fantastic career mode, you can play the horse trick, graffiti or trick attack modes - it's great fun, just show how good you really are! The game has great music, great graphics and gameplay, and is a class act all round. 5 stars.

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is one of the greatest revelations in gaming today, it kicked started a new wave of top quality gaming in the form of extreme sports titles. Tony Hawk, one of the best skateboarders in the world, definitely the most influential, has made his fame through this game, and the game has inspired many to take up the sport, and I believe this game is one of the best around. Graphically impressive, the game was originally on the PlayStation, so essentially this is just a clone of that game, but it allows those with a Dreamcast to play the game, so that cannot be bad. Plus, the graphics are a lot better than the shaky PlayStation Graphics, so this is definitely the better version. The game excels on gameplay more than anything, with the emphasis being on getting points for showing off really - the better the tricks and moves you do, the more points you will get - you'll find the gameplay rewarding and great fun, even when you're a beginner. There's something very addictive about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - you will not be disappointed. Grind all over rails, table tops, anywhere in the greatly designed areas, do some spectacular manoevers in the air, pulling off a huge combo of tricks to much reward or a certain splat, which is funny! THPS is a very, very entertaining game, one player and two player modes - it's a class title. The two player battles are just as good as the single player fantastic career mode, you can play the horse trick, graffiti or trick attack modes - it's great fun, just show how good you really are! The game has great music, great graphics and gameplay, and is a class act all round. 5 stars.

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Carefully and meticulously captures the skateboarding experience. Great selection of real environments and actual skateboarders. Oh my god. Can the graphics get any crisper? Can the surfaces be more detailed? Can the trick animations get better? No, no, no. As the French say, "Non." The clacks of the ollie, schwinging grinds, and visceral bail noises add up to some of the most gut-wrenching sounds on DC. Points for the balls-out soundtrack. With tons of skaters, plenty to unlock and a progressive learning curve, this game will deliver years of fun. Tony Hawk has as much or more lasting appeal than Soul Caliber. There, I've said it.

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Just as I thought sports games on the Dreamcast couldn't get any better after seeing NBA2K, along comes this instant classic! Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is a fantastic piece of gaming fun which is as original as it is clever. I never really got the hang of skateboards, the only trick I could do was falling off in several different and amusing (to everyone else) ways, but I'm glad to say that this game is far easier to get on with than the real thing. The controls take very little time to master, but there are so many tricks and courses that the game will last and last, it's a game you will always want to come back to again. The general idea of the game is to skate (no!) while acheiving certain goals, like getting a set number of points or collecting the S K A T E letters dotted around the course. While this is relatively easy on the first few stages, it soon builds up to become a tough feat to complete on the later ones. In the middle of all this, getting certain tasks done (and gaining video tapes through doing them) will unlock new courses, boards and characters. This all adds not only to the length of the game, but also to the feeling of acheivement you get for completing that task. The two player modes are based around the tricks, usually beating the other player. These are just as much fun as the one player game and mean that even after you've completed that many times, you can still go back and play the game with a freind. Of course, this game first came out on the Playstation, where it was equally well received and rightly so, but the attention to detail on the graphics in this version and the extra tweaks that it seems to have gone through do make a lot of difference to the look and feel of the finished product. This game was first recommended to me by a friend, and in turn I have to recommend it to you as it is one game you don't want to miss out on, even with its sequel already out and d oing even better than the first.

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I never play computer games. - Not since the Sega/Nintendo days at least, - Never ; within seconds I'm bored. And I'm always beyond s*** at them. All of them. So, to be honest I was pretty surprised to spend an entire Saturday on the day my brother bought this, stiing in front of the TV, making a tiny pixelated man do tiny pixelated tricks, but, f*** it, this is a fantastic game ! If you love skating you will love it ! Especially, if like me, when it comes to actually standing on a board and pulling of ollies, 360's, grinds, and tail grabs, you, well, can't. Pro Skater gives you the chance to be the best skater, like, ever dude. By pushing the right buttons at the right time, you can flip about the screen, pulling the most incredible trick combo's, get more air than it's ever possible to get in real life, and skate through a fantastic array of interesting, detailed,levels, with extensive exploration potential, in a variety of modes. Practise until your thumbs ache in Free Skate, attempt ever more difficult tasks in career mode, take part in competeitions, and generally have the time of your pixellated life. As someone who just doesn't bother with consoles you have to believe me, this is a truly excellent game, made better by attention to detail ; All skaters you can play as are real people, the clothing, and boards are all absolutely authentic ( Zero, Toy Machine, World Industries, etc. ) and even the punk soundtrack is perfect - this game IS skating, with the difference that should you fall off, it's not actually your arm you're gonna be breaking. And when is that not a good thing ?

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Step into the Off-The-Wall Vans of skate hero Tony Hawk or nine other street and vert pros, complete with their signature moves. In single player mode, THPS has the player exploring levels, collecting alphabet letters, videotapes, and trying to pull off the most dangerous, rare, and interesting trick combinations. The game's multiplayer modes are enhanced over the Playstation version with up to four players duking it out in a game of tag, horse, or similar competitions. More action, more trash-talk, totally extreme, dude! Okay, well maybe not, since THPS is a respectable title. That said, the graphics have been totally reworked on the Dreamcast, but the gameplay that has made it such a winner remains true. Note the information below is about Tony Hawks pro-skater 2, as there is no opinion selection for this. Back with more, more, more of what made the original game so classic, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 brings together, once again, all the tricks, skaters, parks and music that's fit to grind. All of the skaters that contributed to the game's authentic appeal are back, along with three newcomers: Scott Caballero, Eric Koston and Rodney Mullen. In addition, real-life skate parks constructed from research and video footage have been added in answer to some of the complaints fans had about the lack of realistic levels from the first game. The trick system has also been seamlessly revamped to include more combo opportunities, and unique animations for each skater. The developers, as before, have worked extensively with Mr. Hawk and his peers to ensure the essence of true skating so the skating is pervasive throughout the game. Besides the usual collection of tapes and letters, specific levels will have their own items. You can collect cash to fuel your thirst for bigger and better boards. Throw in a track editor, a player creator, and you'll find this game loaded with replay value. Take your customized skater through a fruitful career, and if you have a Dex Drive, trade skaters and parks with other armchair boarders. We like boys with the bulletproof vests!

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Tony Hawk is top of the charts once again, this time with his sequel to his first successful title Pro Skater. I once read an article that asked why Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and 2 are so good. The answer is that Tony works alongside the development team and gives info and support. Tony only puts his name on the best and seems to have a knack for knowing what is needed for a good game. Although Pro Skater 2 looks and feels like a console game, that shouldn't deprive us computer players the thrill and excitement of putting our big butts in the air and falling on our heads. Computer players need to get out of the mind set of keyboard/mouse controls and dust off those sidewinders cause your going to need them. The original Pro Skater was so fun you didn't think it could get any better; we were wrong. The sequel to the best skateboarding game ever has added larger areas to skate in and the ability to buy stats and tricks for your skater. This allows you to specialize in your favorite moves or maybe add a little bit of everything to your list. When you buy stats, your player gets physically better in whatever you purchased, such as: hang time, speed, or ollies. After building your player up to the limit of some stats, you can do 720s with ease. You also have the ability to buy special moves, but can only use two at a time while playing. The ability to customize your look and skateboards is also included in your options. All the skaters are back with some hidden people also. The great movies are there and are unlocked as you progress through the game. Along with all this customization, you also have the ability to design your own track. The tracks can't be as elaborate as what's included in the game, but they do allow some great area designs using ramps and obstacles. As much personalization you could ask for is included in this game. The map areas are massive with more than one level at places. The hidden areas and items are plenty and it t akes some skill and practice to get them. The graphics are a bit sluggish and remind you constantly that this is a console game. The 1024x768 resolution does help, but doesn't eliminate the rough edges to the game. The models are excellent and look great pulling off their tricks. Overall, the graphics are less than desired, but the fun exciting gameplay allows you to ignore the small flaws in an almost perfect game. The sound and music are great. The sound effects are your usual bone crunching, head pounding, and blood squirting yelps of pain found in other games. The soundtrack to this game is an excellent choice to complement the game's action. I also found a neat trick online that allows you to convert your favorite mp3s to your background music in the game using RadTools. My game played better with Creed in the background for some reason. Gameplay is second to none. There is not another game out there that gives you as much action at such a high speed than Pro Skater 2. The controls are not hard to pick up and only really consist of 4 main buttons. I would recommend using a gamepad instead of the keyboard. I tried both controls, and the keyboard took too much away from the game. Along with Freeskate and Career modes, you also have multiplayer through LAN or Internet. The multiplayer only consists of two player competitions and wasn't very good with poor lag and dull interaction with your opponent. The single player game more than makes up for any inconveniences that the multiplayer has. Overall, the game is almost near perfect. Only small flaws and nuisances take away from the game. The high flying no holds barred action is more than enough to make up for any problems the game might have. If you buy one game this Christmas season...Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 better be on that list.

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When the blisters come up and your thumbs start to hurt, you know it's time to put it down but not because you want to, because you have to. There are very few games that I will sit down and play for ages but this game is very very addictive. The graphics are really clear and the game is really easy to get into so no having to sit down for an hour to read the instructions before you can play. I don't know anyone who has played this game and not loved it. There are not many games that I think you get your money's worth out of but this game has taken up more of my life recently than I'd like to admit. If you're thinking of buying this game, all I can say is do. I can't wait for Tony Hawk 2 to come out tomorrow.

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Tony Hawk's graphics are fantastic and jaw dropping to say the least. The game's engine is rock solid running at a fairly consistent 60 frames per second. Unfortunately there are some drops in frame rate but they are minor and do not effect the overall gameplay. Things like fog or draw-in are also minor and the gamer will really have to be looking for it to notice it. The character models look very much like their real life counterparts. Everything from hair to clothing is nicely textured and shaded. Beards are present as well as long hair and distinctly different skin colour. The level of detail is amazing. Another example of detail is the lighting effects. From city lights to the sun at sunset, the graphics engine really delivers a level of realism seldom seen in video games. This is game is awesome in the looks department. Tony Hawk's sound track should be sold as a game music CD. I would say almost every music track in this game is excellent, suiting the visuals perfectly. The artists range from metal to hip-hop and never manage to become boring. If they do you can select a track you'd like to hear in the menu interface...cool! The sound effects are also done well. Bailing off your board never sounded so good. The sound of face plants alone will make the gamer cringe, and probably laugh out loud as well. The skateboards sound very real with the clicking and clacking of wood. I found the wheels made different noises on different surfaces. The rail and truck grinds reminded me of days of old and I felt that I was on my board again, scarfing down some hand railing. The environments have their own personal sounds as well. For example if you are skating in the rough part of town it is normal for you to hear screams or even gunshots. Runecraft really paid a lot of attention to the little things and this in turn should capture any gamer! Overall this is a real classic, better than the first!

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Everyday I sit on my arse and gaze out of the window, watching the cool people ‘nolly’ and ‘grind’ their way down the street without a care in the world. Unfortunately, hermits like me will never be accepted by these laid back, lower-middle-class types. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to make do with Tony Hawk’s Pro-skater. Yes, those of you who find yourself scraping knuckles and, oh no, grazing your knees each time you try a 540 heelflip followed by a BS boardslide (I don’t know if these really exist, I just got them off the game) can now perform all the tricks you never could in the safety of your own smelly bedroom. Choose from several apparently famous skateboarders and take them around abandoned warehouses, shopping malls, skate-park competitions and a number of other jump and grind laden sceneries. These levels aren’t exactly vast, but there are so many tricks and bonuses to each of these levels it could take some time to master them. Points are scored through tricks whilst jumping or ‘grinding’, i.e. scraping the board along a rail or wall, waving arms manically in attempt to balance, There are a vast range of tricks, and obviously the harder of these score more points than others. There are many bonuses on each level, such as special jumps, which can multiply your score. Some of these are quite hard to find or actually reach, which gives the you a variety of reasons to go back to a level. Each level also has a number of objectives, such as reaching a certain high-score, which earns you tapes. These tapes earn you the right to skate around new levels and use new and different boards, which frankly you can’t see when playing and are just are novelty. The game is quite large and can take a lot of repetitive yet enjoyable play to complete. However, once all tapes have been discovered I cannot see much reason for starting it all over again. When the game is finished the only entertaining aspect left is the two player option. Having said this, it is a hell of a two player option. The idea is very basic; play one of three different games in a skate park of your choice. The fist of these is ‘HORSE’; the two players take alternate turns in which they have ten seconds to perform a trick in a sudden death style competition. One player must beat the others score to win the point, whereas the loser receives a letter of HORSE, or whatever word you choose to replace it with. This sounds simple, but can instigate intense confrontations and unhealthy competition. The remaining two are just as basic and just as fun, and the final say in just who is the best out of your little gang of wannabe Tony Hawks. The brilliant gameplay is aided by a simple control system, a constant learning curve and good graphics, and in combination this game shows no faults other than it’s lack of ‘go back and play again’ appeal. It is simple game playing fun, and needs no requirements for enjoyment other than ownership of a playstation or a PC. Recommended to all.

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Tony Hawks Pro-Skater 1 is a skateboarding Simulation, with its variety of tricks, grinds + stunts. The Game created by Activision is one of a kind, 11 different players with an additional 2, over 99 different skateboards + 9 new and exiciting levels to choose from. One of the great Options is: Select Player with 9 players to choose from giving you their Statastics for Ollie, Speed, Air and balance. There is also additional information on Age, born, Years Pro, Stance and Height. There are 2 addtional players you can win in career's mode. The 9 Players are:- Bob Burnquist Geoff Rowley Bucky Lasek Chad Muska Kareem Campell Andrew Reynolds Rune Glifberg Jamie Thomas Elissa Steamer Tony Hawk (The Star) There 9 different levels which iclude WareHouse, School, Mall, Downtown, Downhill Jam. Streets + 3 Compotetion in the skatepark, burnside and Roswell... This game is totally asume with its garphics and sounds, the tricks are totally asume when you pull them off. The Special tricks are hard to figure out but once you get them right man its good. Tony Hawks Levels have a variety of equipment in there like ramps, funboxes, rails, quater-pipe, half-pipe, bowl + MORE.

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The radical world of freestyle skateboarding comes to the Dreamcast, in a frenzied mix of arcade and simulation that's cool enough to bear official approval from the legendary Hawks himself, along with appearances from nine other pro skaters. This professional input has obviously paid dividends, for Tony Haws Pro Skater packs in every familiar element from the street sport, from the motion-captured moves, killer combo, and truly gravity defying stunts, right through to the inclusion of nine real world skating locations, from Malls and schools, to downtown hang-outs (complete with shortcuts and hidden areas). Even the sounds listened to by real-life skaters have been replicated. On the disc you'll find prime cuts from alternative and hardcore bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Primus, their head-down rhythms providing the perfect accompaniment to kick-flips, slides, grabs, and seriously big airs. Pro Skater isn't just about freestyle stunts, either, with a ranking system to work through, a full career mode, plus a whole range of two player split-screen modes. There's even a video replay feature, so you can show friends your killer combos again and again.

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What? ANOTHER Playstation port? Another completely lazy conversion? No. This is a truly amazing game that first appeared on Playstation last year and was named game of the year by many magazines. And now it's our turn. Tony Hawks skateboarding breaks into the world of Dreamcast and really fits in well. the graphics are vastly better than the PS version and all the great gameplay is retained. Easy to play and a joy to master. It's got 10-10 written all over it, but, it's an 'old' game and I give it only 9. Worth buying, if you don't already have it. It will last you 6 months + - top game.